Who else?
“Fatah blame Israel for the escalating security chaos in the Gaza Strip,” from Maan News Agency:
Bethlehem – Ma’an — The Fatah movement on Wednesday accused Israel of propelling the Palestinians into the current state of security chaos.
Spokesperson for the movement in the West Bank, Dr. Jamal Nazzal, told the Italian Radiotelevisione Italiana, known as RAI, “Israel paved the way for the growth of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, by destroying the PA [Palestinian Authority] departments and security forces’ buildings between 2000 and the election to power of Hamas.”
Nazzal also accused Israel of “following a policy which allows Hamas to prevail and that will close the door for peace, the peace which both Hamas and Israel are scared of.”
False. Hamas is not “scared” of peace; they simply don’t want it. Last I checked, the Hamas Charter still calls for the destruction of Israel.
He urged the international community exert pressure on Israel to cease its “bloody” interference in Palestinian affairs.
If Nazzal is referring to the Israeli transfer of arms to Fatah, then maybe he is right. Israel should stop its “bloody” interference.
“Israel has turned the situation on its head, by ignoring arms-smuggling into Gaza, which is aimed to weaken the PA, and combating the idea of peace,” said Nazzal.
Israel has been prevented from stopping arms smuggling into Gaza. The Israelis were pressured into relinquishing the Philadelphi Route, which runs along the Gaza/Sinai border. Since then, dozens of tunnels have been dug in order to foster arms smuggling. Egypt has not helped the situation, turning a blind eye to the activity.
Nazzal also stated that “Israel has understood since the beginning that the best way to prevent the Palestinians from asserting control on the ground is to weaken the security bodies.”
False again. Israel weakened the “security bodies,” also known as terrorist organizations, in order to protect its civilians from terrorist attacks.
Fatah is grasping at straws, trying to save its neck. The Gaza Civil War is drawing to a close with a huge Hamas victory. The only way out for Fatah is to try to get Hamas to point its guns in a different direction.
Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.